Past Exhibition

A Retrospective Exhibition of the Work of George Bellows

From under an elevated train track, we look at a cluster of people hammering and working on the far side of a wooden fence, all against a silvery-blue building that fills most of the background in this horizontal painting. The scene is loosely painted mostly in tones of hazy and saturated blues, so many of the details are indistinct. About a quarter of the way in from the right edge of the composition, a thin iron column holds up the train platform. The column nearly spans the height of the painting, and the track it supports runs across the top edge of the canvas. At the foot of the column, along the bottom edge, are two parallel tracks embedded in an area otherwise painted with short, diagonal strokes in topaz blue, olive green, and straw yellow. Just beyond the tracks, the split-rail wooden fence runs across most of the painting, though there is an opening at the left edge of the canvas. A man sits with his back to us on the railing to our right of center. He wears a dark cap, a lapis-blue shirt, and navy-blue pants. Several men work on or near a mound-shaped form, perhaps a piece of machinery, just beyond the fence, near the center of the painting. One man holds a hammer high overhead while another reaches down or strikes the mound with his feet planted wide. More people work together to our left, and a man to our right stands near a crane. The people and these areas are painted with broad strokes and touches of cobalt blue, charcoal gray, khaki brown, and a few swipes of shell pink and bright white. A puff of white smoke billows up behind the central group, before the land drops precipitously away. The chasm is painted with shimmering tones of aquamarine and cerulean blue. A sky-blue, rectangular building perches at the far edge. A few windows are outlined in royal blue to our left but the rest of the building is loosely painted with long, vertical strokes so no architectural details can be made out. Behind this structure are more city buildings, suggested with strokes of muted rust red, parchment and bright white, and cobalt blue. The ice-blue sky fills the band between the top of the buildings and the train track running overhead. The artist signed his name near the lower left corner, “BELLOWS.”
George Bellows, Blue Morning, 1909, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.82

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    Ground Floor, Central Gallery, Galleries G-9 through G-15
From under an elevated train track, we look at a cluster of people hammering and working on the far side of a wooden fence, all against a silvery-blue building that fills most of the background in this horizontal painting. The scene is loosely painted mostly in tones of hazy and saturated blues, so many of the details are indistinct. About a quarter of the way in from the right edge of the composition, a thin iron column holds up the train platform. The column nearly spans the height of the painting, and the track it supports runs across the top edge of the canvas. At the foot of the column, along the bottom edge, are two parallel tracks embedded in an area otherwise painted with short, diagonal strokes in topaz blue, olive green, and straw yellow. Just beyond the tracks, the split-rail wooden fence runs across most of the painting, though there is an opening at the left edge of the canvas. A man sits with his back to us on the railing to our right of center. He wears a dark cap, a lapis-blue shirt, and navy-blue pants. Several men work on or near a mound-shaped form, perhaps a piece of machinery, just beyond the fence, near the center of the painting. One man holds a hammer high overhead while another reaches down or strikes the mound with his feet planted wide. More people work together to our left, and a man to our right stands near a crane. The people and these areas are painted with broad strokes and touches of cobalt blue, charcoal gray, khaki brown, and a few swipes of shell pink and bright white. A puff of white smoke billows up behind the central group, before the land drops precipitously away. The chasm is painted with shimmering tones of aquamarine and cerulean blue. A sky-blue, rectangular building perches at the far edge. A few windows are outlined in royal blue to our left but the rest of the building is loosely painted with long, vertical strokes so no architectural details can be made out. Behind this structure are more city buildings, suggested with strokes of muted rust red, parchment and bright white, and cobalt blue. The ice-blue sky fills the band between the top of the buildings and the train track running overhead. The artist signed his name near the lower left corner, “BELLOWS.”
George Bellows, Blue Morning, 1909, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.82

Overview: This retrospective consisted of 63 paintings and 89 drawings and lithographs, gathered from more than 40 museums and private sources. It was the first one-person show held at the National Gallery and represented a new focus on American art, since the early emphasis had been on European old masters. Especially highlighted was the first Bellows painting added to the Gallery's holdings, Both Members of This Club, presented by Chester Dale in 1945. It became eligible under the Gallery's policy that 20 years must elapse after an artist's death before his or her work could be placed in the collection. Bellows died in 1925. Chester Dale had been introduced by his wife Maud Dale to Bellows since both men liked boxing. She persuaded Chester Dale to have his portrait painted by Bellows (now in the Founder's Room); from then on Chester Dale became interested in art collecting and bought many of Bellows' works.

The opening of the exhibition was attended by Mrs. Bellows and daughters Anne and Jean. The exhibition and catalogue were organized by William P. Campbell with H.V. Allison and Co., the New York dealer of Bellows. The show went on to Columbus, Ohio, birthplace of the artist.

Attendance: 80,000

Catalog: George Bellows: A Retrospective Exhibition, introduction by Henry McBride. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1957.

Other Venues:

  • Columbus, Ohio

You may also like

Exhibition:  Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985

Exhibition:  The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art